


Inked

by wifebeast__s



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: F/M, I will never be over Nate, Image Prompt, Implied Sexual Content, Language, Nate - Freeform, SoSu Dani, Tattoos, Tumblr Prompt, likegoodangels September 2016
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-26
Updated: 2016-09-26
Packaged: 2018-08-17 08:32:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8137370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wifebeast__s/pseuds/wifebeast__s
Summary: Nate was always a little ahead of Dani, including getting ink. (aka the story behind Dani's sweet Valkyrie tat)





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [likegoodangels](https://archiveofourown.org/users/likegoodangels/gifts).



> I saw this image prompt from likegoodangels on Tumblr, and I had the idea right away. I've cleaned it up just a little, but I figured I might as well just go ahead and post it.
> 
> Also inspiration for me! I have my first appointment for my next tat in less than a month now. Yaaaaay.

Nate got his first one at 16. He knew a guy who knew a guy (and so on) who was willing to overlook the age thing. After all, he didn't have a dad who could take him down to the shop. Shop was being kind. It was in the back of a van, smokey and dark. Nothing big or spectacular. Just his mom's name on his right shoulder blade.

Dani had helped him take care of it, putting lotion over it and running her nails all around it when it itched. 

“It's so cool,” she had whispered against his back, and he just chuckled.

“Dani, it's tiny. There are guys down by the docks with their arms covered.”

“You don't need to get so many. Not all at once. They earned those, right?”

He looked over his shoulder, studying her face, “Dani, anyone ever tell you that you're too smart for your own good?”

She felt her cheeks flush, looked down and smiled, “You do. All the time.”

He turned, brushed her cheek with his thumb and kissed her forehead, “Because it's true.”

“Take care of that,” she mumbled, gathering her things to stand, “I gotta head home.”

Walking home, she thought about the name in his skin. It would be there forever and ever. She rubbed her fingers together, remembering how warm his skin had been beneath them. Her breath hitched. She had seen him shirtless plenty of times, so surely that wasn't why. They were best friends. She clenched her hands into fists and marched home.

* * *

The tattoo faded over time, mostly because he refused to wear a shirt half the time. It was infuriating. Because of that tattoo. Not because the sight of him without the shirt had started to do things to her, make her chest feel tight, make her squeeze her legs together.

He was muscular at 15, and here he was pushing 18, and he was fucking solid. And always fucking shirtless.

Like right now, playing basketball with the few other guys in the neighborhood that weren't part of a gang, in prison, or dead. She sat on one of the benches, trying to do her homework, but her eyes kept betraying her, straying to his back, watching the way the word moved with him. And now there was the other one, the Boston skyline from a specific place. She recognized it, knew it well.

The game stopped for a moment, and he stood, stretching, running fingers through his dark hair. It was longer than normal; he hadn't bothered to get it cut recently. Her teeth dug into her bottom lip. 

As if on cue, he turned, hazel eyes meeting hers. He always had a kind of amused glint in his eyes, like some joke was being told, and he already knew the punchline. But they softened when they met hers, and he nodded slightly in the direction of his building.

She smiled, looking away, as color bloomed on her cheeks, but she nodded just the same.

“Hey, Frankie, we'll pick it up another time.”

Frankie wisely said nothing. No one ever said anything when Nate and Dani would sneak away together. And why should they? 

Their fingers laced together, as they started down the street, Nate still shirtless, and Dani leaning into him.

“I really love your tattoos,” she whispered, and he just grinned. Maybe it was the punchline he had been waiting for.

* * *

The last few months of school were both the most and least difficult. Living with Nate's mom was easy and made her happy. Living there without having Nate nearby did not. She had approached graduation with something like trepidation, even though she knew it was a good thing. So many people in their neighborhood didn't make it there. She was grateful to have Nate's mom; no one else would be there to celebrate with her, so it was one more person than she'd have otherwise.

When she walked across the stage, though, she _felt_ him there. Her eyes scanned the crowd, and there he was, in the back, looking stiff but handsome in his dress blues. She almost tripped on her way back down in her excitement, almost forgot that they had practiced this, that she had to return to her seat. 

She didn't bother tossing her cap with the others. As soon as the ceremony ended, she was up and moving, passing through the crowd until she was in his arms, probably staining the heavy fabric he wore with salt. 

They had dinner with his mom, but she had to work – his pay was better, but she said that all of it could go to retirement, or toward buying them a house.

“You look so good in that suit, I kind of don't want you to take it off,” she murmured against his lips, as he worked at the zipper of her dress.

“You sure?”

She looked him up and down, then grinned, “On second thought...”

He chuckled and helped her get the jacket off, watched her unbutton the shirt, his eyes burning into her. She slid it over his shoulders, fingertips dancing on the skin it exposed. He wore his normal white tank underneath, which left his arms exposed. Beautifully sculpted arms. 

She inhaled, traced the ink on his bicep, “This is new.”

It was a young woman, hair pulled back and tucked away, a slight smile tugging at her lips. It was black ink only, just like the others, but it still seemed to capture color. She seemed familiar somehow.

Nate captured her hand in his, peppered kisses along her fingertips, then a soft one on her palm, on the inside of her wrist, whispering, “I missed you.”

* * *

It became part of their ritual, when he would return from the lines. Dani would dance her fingers over each of the images painted forever in his skin, tracing the lines, imagining that she could similarly mark him forever.

“Your marks are deeper,” he told her, murmured into her hair in that quiet time between pulling apart and falling asleep. 

She hummed against him, caressing the newest one – an anchor – with her lips, “Are they as permanent?”

“Even more so.”

She smiled, tracing the others, “I think I want one, Nate.”

He pushed himself up onto an elbow at that, blinking, “Really?”

She nodded, “Yeah. I want one, too. I think I've earned it, right?”

He caressed her cheek, pressed his lips against hers, “Yes, you have. Shit, Dani, that would be so sexy.”

She laughed at that, threw her head back and let it out because she loved hearing it, and it was just so _Nate_. When she looked at him again, she arched an eyebrow, “What do you think I should get?”

He was quiet for a moment, pensive, then a smile slowly graced his features before he managed to say, while wrapping his fingers around her thigh,“Property of Nate?”

She shoved him hard, and he fell onto his back. He didn't struggle when she climbed atop him, grabbing his wrists and pressing them into the mattress, “I am no one's property.”

“Thank god for that, baby,” he sighed happily, and she kissed him again.

“Seriously, though,” she pouted down at him. He grinned, but the look always worked. He pulled his arms free from her grip and ran his hands down her sides.

“I don't know. Think about it for a while. You'll know it when you know it. You always do.”

He still smiled, but his eyes were calm and soothing. She returned the look and rolled her hips against him until his eyes closed, and he groaned. There was at least one thing she knew for sure she wanted.

* * *

He was in Alaska for what felt like ages, though it was only a year. He wasn't able to make it when she finished her Juris Doctorate, but in all reality, it didn't matter. She didn't get to walk because she was busy on duty herself.

But she wanted to celebrate the occasion.

The tattoo parlor was a lot nicer than the place where Nate had gotten his first. It was still kind of dark, and there was still smoke in the air. The man behind the counter was large and round, long hair and a long beard. 

“You ever get a tattoo before?”

She shook her head, “No. My husband has a few, and I just finished my degree. I figure it's time.”

“What are you thinking about getting?”

She sighed, “I don't know.”

The man stood – he really was large, towering over her, but she wasn't intimidated, nor was he trying to intimidate her. He worked his way around the desk and waved his hand at the walls, “You can look through here, but if you really want something, you should go somewhere that inspires you. Find something there and bring it back, and I'll find a way to make it work.”

* * *

It was summer when he came back that time – a hot, sticky one, but they celebrated anyway. Their small band of friends joined them in their house on base, and they grilled hamburgers and drank beer, not mentioning the ongoing war.

While the men played a friendly game of soccer, the women gathered with their chilled drinks and admired their husbands or boyfriends from afar.

“So you show him yet?”

Dani smiled at Margaret, “No. He just got in last night.”

Mandy blinked, “Aren't you guys usually all over each other when he gets home? Something wrong?”

She laughed at that, “Nothing's wrong. We just didn't get all of the clothes off.”

Margaret got a hazy look in her eyes, “I love it when John's like that.”

Mandy snorted, “Careful, or this party might end sooner than anticipated.”

The women laughed, and Dani's eyes trailed to Nate, running and sweating. He had a new tattoo, she saw. They were peppering his arm now, and she bit her bottom lip. 

True to her word, Margaret took John home when the game was over, and Mandy just shrugged, tugging Tim by the waistband of his jeans and nodding toward his house a couple doors down. He smirked, setting his beer down on their patio table, “Sorry, folks. Duty calls.”

Dani chuckled, offered a wave and goodnight, then turned.

Nate sat, stretched on one of the chairs, his chest still bare. The sweat had dried on his skin. He held his own beer loosely between his legs, a cigarette hanging out of the corner of his mouth. His eyes were on her, making a slow line from her legs up to her face, “You are a sight for a sore eyes, baby.”

She smiled and made her way slowly toward him, “You got in so late last night...I didn't get to show you. I got a surprise for you.”

His eyebrow rose a fraction, “That so?”

She nodded and stopped to stand in front of him, “Yes, sir.”

“Is it your degree? You get it framed?”

He offered his arm to her, inviting her onto his lap. She sank into him, leaning against his chest and pulling his other arm toward her to trace the lines of the ink in his skin, “I did, but that's not it.”

The arm around her back came up, wrapped further around to pull the cigarette from his lips. He dropped it in the ashtray next to them before returning his hand to her hip, squeezing it and bunching the fabric, “Ooooh. What is it, then?”

She turned her face to him, kissed the shell of his ear before whispering, “Come inside and see.”

She hopped off his lap, hand trailing behind to take his and lead him back into their house. He followed close behind, almost crowding her, “You got me all tingly.”

She hummed, “Good.”

When they were inside, she dropped his hand, making her way through the living area to close blinds. She wasn't a prude, but this was for him and her and no one else. He watched her; she moved slowly, drawing out the anticipation, and even for a solider used to long periods of waiting, he was fidgeting.

With privacy secured, with the dimming light of the setting sun filtering through the cracks in the blinds, she turned back to him, “Close your eyes.”

He grinned and did as she commanded.

She walked closer, unbuttoning the top of her dress and letting it fall to her hips. She unclasped her bra, then turned, crossing her arms over her chest, tugging her hair over her shoulder.

“You can open them.”

Silence at first, and then a barely-heard “holy shit.”

Dani forced herself not to say anything. She was a strong woman; she was confident. Silence was not disapproval. At least that's what she repeated to herself, as the seconds ticked on, and it felt like hours before there was the gentlest touch at her back. It was unexpected, and she couldn't help the startled twitch.

“Did I hurt you?”

She shook her head. Still waiting. She was starting to worry a little bit, but she wouldn't admit it, not even to herself.

Two hands then, warm palms stroking from the small of her back, up the curve of her spine, spreading over her shoulders, then fingers tracing lines that she knew were there. She could feel them. They were so sensitive. She wondered if this was what it felt like when she traced over Nate's tattoos.

“It's beautiful,” he finally choked out.

She looked at him over her shoulder, “Really? You don't think it's too big?”

The winged warrior took up nearly all of the real estate on her back. It wasn't colorful – gray scale to match the mood, but it certainly couldn't be missed.

“Jesus, Dani. No. This is amazing. It's fucking sexy as hell, too.”

She smiled, “You think so?”

His fingers hadn't stopped their perusal, and she felt them twitch against her back, “You're always sexy. This is just...magnified. A Valkyrie?”

She nodded.

“Hmmm. It suits you.”

She felt him behind her, felt him lower his head, then felt the caress of his lips on the sensitive skin. She shivered.

“Now, c'mon,” he whispered against her ear, wrapping his hands about her hips, “let's go see how it looks when I bend you over the bed.”


End file.
